1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method of screening for a microorganism having enhanced cellulose productivity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellulose has a ribbon-like bundle structure stabilized by hydrogen bonds between long chains of beta-D-glucopyranose (β-D-glucopyranose) units joined through beta-1,4-glucoside (β-1,4-glucoside) bonds.
Microbial cellulose consists of only cellulose, unlike plant cellulose containing hemicellulose, pectin, lignin, etc. Therefore, pure cellulose free from impurities can be obtained from microorganisms. Since microbial cellulose has excellent biocompatibility and mechanical properties, it may be applied to a wide variety of fields, such as the medical field, beauty products, food, electrical and electronics, among many others. However, its application has been restricted because of the absence of microorganisms having satisfactory cellulose productivity.
With advances in metabolic engineering, there have been many attempts to prepare microorganisms having high cellulose productivity. Up to now, there have been no genetic manipulation tools available for microorganisms producing cellulose, and thus, random mutagenesis has been commonly used to develop such microorganisms. Accordingly, there is a demand for a method of more efficiently screening for a microorganism strain having enhanced cellulose productivity from numerous candidate mutant strains prepared by random mutagenesis.